Tightening up of food labelling on cards

CONSUMERS will soon have more information about the food they buy if proposed new labelling legislation is adopted.

If approved, the rules will make it harder to mislead consumers when marketing a product, consultant Nigel Sunley says.

The 112-page draft regulations are out for public comment.

Regulations include that nutritional information is labelled on all products explaining how much salt, sugar, fat, protein and carbohydrate are in the item.

At the moment, only food that makes health claims such as "high in Vitamin C" or "low fat" have to have such information.

Sunley said it would also be harder for food manufacturers to make health claims on packaging such as "low in sugar" or "immune boosting" as all claims would have to be substantiated,

According to the regulations, products will have to pass a nutrient profile test that determines how much sugar, salt, fat and good nutrients are in products. Food and Allergies Consulting and Testing Services (Facts) dietician Karen Horsburgh said if the food did not pass the test, manufacturers would not be able to put a claim on the box,

"It means products that have claims such as 'high fibre' or 'slimmers' choice' will be the healthier products."

Sunley said: "You can't take a bar of chocolate and add lots of vitamins and then say 'high in Vitamin C'."

There are some controversial aspects to the proposed legislation. These include that any drink or food that replaces sugar with sweeteners will not be able to have a health claim on the label or indicate that the product is "diet" or use the word "zero".

This meant people would go back to drinking sugary products, Sunley said.

"It's idiotic. Non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame have been found to be safe in small quantities time and time again."

Horsburgh said food with religious claims such as being kosher would also have to be provided in the same shop without the religious claims on the packaging.

"This means double shelf space and double packaging."

Experts are worried that the lack of enforcement of existing labelling laws will continue under new legislation.

Large food producers do comply with the existing laws. But smaller operations and imported products often ignore them.

The regulations have to be enforced by municipalities. - Katharine Child